Ethics Amers Travels

PIGEONS AND ETHICS

Having had two pigeons successfully raise a family of 2 babies from eggs to adulthood, we witnessed the miracle of life, right before our eyes. We didn't interfere in any way. We watched in fascination as the couple went from courtship to mating (as in the pigeons mating movie). The female brought sticks and built a nest. Then first one and then another egg was laid. The female sat tirelessly on the eggs, keeping them warm, even as the other pigeons went out for meals and socialized. Occasionally she would leave the nest to get something to eat for herself. Then the male would sit on the eggs for his shift. His shift was much shorter than hers. You could tell he would rather be socializing with the other pigeons. After 2 weeks, the eggs hatched. The babies were yellow and the parents would take turns regurgitating food to them while keeping them warm. After a month, they got restless and walked all over the balcony. Then on one glorious day, they learned to fly and left. I think they have been back, though I have trouble telling the birds apart so I am not sure which ones were the babies. Yes, this was a special experience for us.

One day another couple of pigeons came. And it seemed like the same thing was happening. The birds were in love or so we think. Pigeons mate for life. They had a couple of eggs. The eggs hatched. Everything was going as it should. But then we noticed the mother and father were gone, leaving the young birds alone. At first we thought it was normal as they are known to leave for hours to get food for their brood. But then a day went by, and another, with no sign of the parents. Ominously, we saw a dead pigeon on the road below. It looked like it had been hit by a car. The question became: what about the babies? Certainly without the parents to feed them, they would starve to death. I thought long and hard about what to do. Philosophically I have believed for a long time that humans should leave nature alone, only interfering to correct things other humans messed up. This is a nice theory, when you are distanced from the consequences. But now, this was happening on my balcony. This time it was personal. Two baby birds would possibly live or die on my decision. If these were two endangered species, the decision would be easy -- to get them to a wildlife rehabilitator. But these were two very common birds. There is no pigeon shortage. I decided to wait another day to see if the parents returned, though I knew it was doubtful. If I decided to save them, what would I do? Yes, I could feed them with an eye dropper, but then what? How would I teach these birds to fly? To interact with other pigeons? I can neither fly nor speak pigeon. These birds would be dependant on me for the rest of their lives. But these were wild creatures. Didn't they deserve to be free? It would be one thing if they were pets and I was responsible for them. But these were not pets, never have been. To some degree, I don't believe in pets. All creatures should be free. All the pigeons that visit the balcony are wild creatures, free to come and go as they please. They come to my balcony because they feel safe from predators and I sometimes feed them. Surprisingly they stay even without food on the balcony for weeks at a time. I asked myself, what would happen to these birds if they weren't on the balcony? Probably a certain percentage of pigeon parents get killed by predators and without the parents, the baby birds starve to death. That is the will of God and nature. The next morning, I checked on them. They were still alive. I had no way of knowing their condition. Still wondering what to do, I went to breakfast. When I came back a few hours later, the decision had been made for me, they were dead. It was a sad day. We were very upset. I removed them from the balcony. I did not feel like watching the natural process of decay. Surprisingly, the other pigeons returned from breakfast and acted as if nothing happened. I guess I did the right thing by doing nothing.